VANCOUVER -- Waking up with worsening pain had Surjit Garcha worried, but the red blisters on her stomach were so alarming that she went to her neighbour's home to try and explain, in her limited English, that she needed help.
"The employees who bring food to patients would leave it outside the door because they could catch what I had and no visitors could come in my room," she said in Punjabi about her experience three years ago. "We saw that if you had heart failure and limited English proficiency you were more likely to come back to the emergency room to be reassessed in 30 days after you were discharged," said Rawal, an assistant professor in the University of Toronto's department of medicine and a staff physician at the University Health Network, which includes the two hospitals.
Of the 9,881 patients, 2,336 people had limited proficiency in English. Nearly 36 per cent of them spoke Portuguese, just over 23 per cent spoke Italian while Cantonese, Mandarin and Chinese were the primary languages for about 14 per cent of patients. Greek and Spanish were the least-spoken languages and 18.5 per cent of the study subjects' languages were listed as "other."
However, she said previous research studies have shown that families are less accurate in their interpretation than professionals and sometimes may not wish to translate what a clinician is saying, perhaps to lessen the impact if the prognosis would be too upsetting.
Welcome to Canada. We have two official languages. That’s it.
It costs the U.K. taxpayer via the NHS many £millions a year to use the equivalent translation service 🙄
If ya need an interpreter hire one, its that simple, stop free loading off my country.
We should provide service in English and French, our two official languages. People that don’t speak either of them are free to hire translators.
Canada has 2 official languages. - people should learn 1 of them at least. Our healthcare system is burdened enough without having to provide interpreters for various foreign languages.
If you are going to have gov't funded healthcare and have the two official languages be English and French then the healthcare ought to only be provided in English or French. Of all the silly extras in healthcare we have to pay for, they can buy their own interpreters.
Man we need citizenship tests like road tests lmao, also should have to renew every so years like a passport and pass all Canadian citizenship requirements.
Or maybe learn English? Should be a requirement like for citizens to speak French or English...
That only patients 'lacking english' in Canada should be tourists
Must be a liberal_party or socialist (NDP) initiative. This is too expensive. Let them use an electronic translator.
I agree NAIT multi language consoler what assume...
At their own cost!
U know they have apps for that. But I guess the middle class can pay for it as well!
Dumb idea of the day award 🥇!
Patients lacking English should have had that skill in order to access our free health care. Enough is enough!
We have 2 offical languages ... learn to speak at least one .There problem solved .
Let's continue to drive health care costs up even more.
So many phone apps for translating until you learn the language.
How about English speaking patients having equal access to English speaking doctors and nurses
What about english speaking patients that may need an interpreter to understand the doctor
Ahhh no they dont!
If your Canadian then you speak English! If you don’t then bye bye
Or improve English proficiency tests for approval of visa and citizenship.
Must be a liberal_party or socialist (NDP) initiative. This is too expensive. Let them use an electronic translator.
Tired of hallway medicine. Can't understand a word your doc says. Worry not, Nanny State is here. Nanny promises 2 widen the hallways 4 your very own personal interpreter. The world explained instantly in any language! Ditch them tired old bitches Alexis & Siri! Just ask 'Nanny'!
Yes, an army of interpreters 4 every language assigned 2 each&every speaker wherever&whenever they are needed. Diversity Canada in a diversity world. We are one. We are none. Dial in. Dial out. The nanny state is here 4 U. Google translate everywhere everywhen. Microchips r us!🤔
Microsoft provides the service free ...
They have phone apps for that
Why don’t we stop allowing grandmas to move to Canada especially when their child moves to Seattle to work and leaves her in Vancouver alone?
Cha Ching. The costs would be enormous.
Patients lacking English need to gtfo.
Paid by
Don’t pocket translators exist?